"They that hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck...."

Entries tagged with ilp

Just a quick note for those following it that a self-beta'ed version of In Loco Parentis Ch10 has been posted here. Let me know what you think. snarkysneak, I decided to go ahead and post this one unbeta'ed-- if you'd like to try on the next chapter, or to take a stab at this one and have me edit, either will be great. We'll get together on a writing schedule soon.

I'm having to create this entry manually, as my shiny new macbook, my birthday present-- it came to me on my birthday, my preciousssssss (refurbished, bottom of the line but I like it-- Thanks, President Bush) still isn't completely configured the way I want. I'll have to re-download xjournal and get my account information set up correctly in it-- it's crashing everytime I try to log in.

And the good news of the week is, I didn't get laid off. The bad news is-- the same thing. I didn't get laid off. No, I get to wait and watch the implosion from my ringside seat. I'll have to expound on the situation more when I'm not recovering from the late night consoling some of my fellows who did get laid off, a gathering at which I have dim memories of singing Michelle Branch's "Goodbye to You" and not so dim memories afterward of being sicker than I have been in my entire life. I am getting too old for this stuff. But somebody kept refilling my beer glass from the pitcher, and then there was the raspberry margarita the bar gave me for my birthday. Um, yeah. Least I had a designated driver. And I did not yak in their car.

But I have a macbook, it has my writing software and iTunes library on it and will get the rest of my files migrated over tonight. So I won't lose anything when they want my macbook pro back when they cut us loose.

Thanks for all the Mother's Day and Birthday wishes on the f-list. I'm really touched, you guys. I'l catch up more later-- I'm off now to pick up Wee Hob and see what he bought me with the $20 I lent him for the purpose.

I'm pleased with how it's going, even as I despair of getting any further or fixing the glaring deficiencies every time I sit down to it. I owe a huge debt to my betas, not only on this work (research_girl and sahiya) but also on other work, past and present. You all know who you are. I'm too afraid of missing any to list you all out. It's weird though-- I really have written a lot over the past year and a half.

slaymesoftly posed an interesting question about betas recently on riters_r_us. How do you deal as a beta with a writer who really is Bad? I'm not that bad, but I am painfully aware my imperfections must also be painful (or painfully funny maybe at times) to read. But I noticed going through the beta notes on this part, that after I cleared away the things they noted, it somehow gave me insight into things they hadn't complained about. I added some things, tweaked some others, and I can just feel that it's better than it would have been. It's almost like clearing away the dead wood let the rest flourish.

And it also let me pull my focus away from some things I thought were bad that they didn't mention, to see other things. To trust that they were okay enough to move on and see something I hadn't before. Not sure I can explain it any better, but I am quite grateful for how it worked out.

Just a quick post to say that part 2 of "In Loco Parentis" is up here. And to remark in passing how funnily appropriate the title is, given my life situation of late, and using a different meaning for "loco."

Thanks to Everyone who offered hugs and words of support for me and my Wee Hob. He is starting to settle down, though he is still doing goofy things that make no rational sense. He got suspended from school on Wednesday for having a paring knife in his backpack. He didn't threaten anyone or seem to have any plan for its use, but he'd apparently had it the previous day and "accidentally" let it fall out where other kids he knew disliked him would see it. Of course they told. Of course he hadn't taken it out overnight. He wanted to be caught, on some level.

But the three days with his godparents have done him a world of good, and he sees Dr. Wolfe next week. He is starting to talk about things that are bothering him. He said yesterday, "I know in my head it wasn't your fault, but when you stopped coming to visit me, I felt really hurt and angry." He's been carrying that around for about 5 years, since the court took away my visitation rights in the middle of all its other dirty tricks. I've had him back now for 3. And there are other things further back he has cause to be hurt and angry about. I think one of the things making him so irrational here is that he doesn't really Know why he feels the way he does.

But we love him, we are getting him sorted, and things will eventually be okay again. Until the next clever idea his hormone-addled brain comes up with.

But for now, he's asleep, there is fic, and for anyone who cares, my first fanfic, "Summer" is also being posted out on fanfiction dot net. It's in the Buffyverse, and very much a documentary instead of a story. And has more angst than you can shake a stick at. But it has its moments. And it's part of why I had the revelation earlier that I was going down the same blind alley with "In Loco Parentis," and I really didn't have to. I don't need to account for a whole summer's worth of time. I can tell the story I need to tell here much more quickly than that. And maybe write something later in the timeline, well, Later. When I have another story that needs telling with the material.

Well, a mixed week, with copious drama. Sadly, much of it was not fictional.

Be that as it may, I have decided to start posting a new fic in progress, without a complete draft to guide my faltering steps. I have a couple of betas doing that-- thanks to sahiya and research_girl for their gracious help. Next up will be the 06 Nano novel, as that really is nearly complete. Once I incorporate the changes from gillo and sort out my sad excuse for geography, it should be in shape to begin posting earlier sections while the later ones get polished.

While I'm at it, thanks to any and everyone who's ever offered feedback or formal beta reading, on anything I've written. You don't know how many times I catch myself about to do something stupid and remember what one (or more) of you have said.

Of course, as all three of the lovely ladies above can tell you, I am endlessly inventive with the stupidity.... (Thanks, you guys.)

Summary: A traitor. A rescue. What happens next? Snape finds himself once more a guardian of two very fragile children, and reflects on what it means to be a father. AU from HBP, age-regression, genfic. Not Severitus. FRT.

Drop by and let me know what you think, there or here. And hugs to everyone.